jleader, I don't doubt the legitimacy of the NAB's comments. They reflect every viewpont of every incumbent that feels threatened by the technology that is rapidly evolving - and rightly so. "Service preservation" is a really a code word for "self preservation".

My point is let's get real. You can't go around saying "interference is a metaphor" when it is a cold reality. When you have zillions of dumb receivers like your average TV set picking up noise, that's real. How do Open Spectrum advocates intend to deal with it?

I'm also pointing out how much clout the NAB has. The fact that they could produce bogus CDs at the low-power FM Congressional hearings and still get the ridiculous "Radio Broadcasting Preservation Act" passed demonstrates that.

We also have to remember that as hip as Michael Powell is to Open Spectrum, he may be around for only a short time. If Bush doesn't get re-elected, and that's certainly possible given the state of things, Powell goes poof. Hey, we may end up with a "Fritz Chip" chairman at the FCC.

I say grab all the unlicensed spectrum you can get and run with the ball. Technology will prevail. In the end the government will have no choice but to embrace an Open Spectrum policy, and I think it will happen sooner than we think.

I also think the Open Spectrum advocates have done an excellent job in planting ideas in the FCC's brain over the past year. My "criticism" is really devil's advocate.